Automatic switch.



No. 846,096. PATBNTED MAR. 5, 1907. A. G. DOHRMANN & G. WAITR- AUTOMATIC SWITCH. APPLICATION FILED JUNE 29. 1906.

BEETS-SHEET 1.

;N 846,096. PATENTED MAR. 5. 1907.

A. d. DOHRMANN & 0. WAITB.

AUTOMATIC SWITCH. APPLIQATION FILED JUNE 29, 1906.

3 SHEETS-$131131 2.

THE NORRIS PETERS ca, WASHING-ON, o. c.

No. 846,096. PATENTED MAR. 5, 1907.

A. G. DOHRMANN & G. WAITE.

AUTOMATIC SWITCH APPLIOATION FILED JUNE 29. 1906.

ALBERT C. DOHRMANN,

OF RIVERGROVE, AND CLARENCE WAITE, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

AUTOMATIC SWITCH.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented March 5, 1907.

Application fil d June 28.1906. Serial No. 323,864.

To all whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that we, ALBERT C. Dorm- MANN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Rivergrove, Cook count", Illinois, and CLARENCE WAITE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, Cook county, Illinois, have invented certain newand useful Improvements in Automatic Switches, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to automatic switches of that type or class wherein an open switch is actuated and thrown to closed position upon the approach of a train through the agency of a contact device carried by the train and mechanical connections to the switch adapted to be engaged and actuated by said contact device.

The main object of the invention is to provide a simple and improved automatic switch of this character wherein the switch is not only actuated by the approaching train, but is first unlocked, then thrown, and finally relocked in its thrown position.

The invention will be readily understood when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings, which show an approved mechanical embodiment of the same, and in which Figure 1 is a side elevational view of a locomotive equipped with the tappet or contact device and connections therefrom to the engineers cab, whereby the tappet may be thrown into and out of operative position. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the tracks, switch, and switch throwing and locking mechanism. Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the principal parts of the switch actuating and locking mechanism, showing also a signal-setting mechanism associated therewith; and Fig. 4.

is a detail plan view of one of the contact devices of the switch-actuating mechanism that is engaged and actuated by the tappet device carried by the train.

Referring first to Fig. 2, A and B may des ignate adiacent sections of a main track, and C may designate a branch or side track form ing a junction with track A B by means of a facing point-switch, (indicated at D,) so that when the switch is in the position shown in the drawing the track C is continuous with the track A, and when in the reverse position the switch-track B is continuous with the track A.

The rails of the facing point-switch D are fast with and actuated by a rod 5, one end of which is connected, through an angle-lever 6 and connecting-rod 7, to a plate 8,1 ig. 3, to reciprocate in suitable slideways 9. The plate 8 is longitudinally slotted, as shown at 10, and is provided on its under side with a shallow mortise, (indicated at 11,) communicating with said slot.

12 designates a slide having a base 13 guided in and by the mortise 1 1, the upstanding portion of said slide projecting through the slot 10. The slide 12 has formed there through a horizontal slot 1 1, engaged by one end of a lever 15, that is pivoted at 16, and said slide 12 also has a pin 17 engaging a slot 18 in the lower end of a manual switchactuating lever 19, this latter being pivoted at 20 to the side of a post 21,'which latter, with the lever 19 and immediately adjacent parts, will preferably be located in a suitable switch-house, (indicated at 22 in Fig. 2.)

Alongside the tracks A and B at suitable distances from the switch are located contact devices each consisting of a mechanism such as that shown in detail in Figs. 3 and 4, wherein 23 designates a slide the longitudinal edges of which are supported and'guided in grooves or ways 24, formed in the inner side walls of guide b ars 25. Pivotally mounted on the slide 23 is the immediate tappet-engaging member of the contact mechanism, consisting of an L-shaped ,member 26, one arm whereof lies in contact with the inner edge of a strip 27, mounted on one of the guide-bars 25, while its other arm extends transversely of the plates between the guide-b ars 25 above the slide 23. The contact-piece 26 is pivotally mounted on the slide 23 by means of a pivot-pin 28, surrounding which latter is a torsion-spring 29, that normally tends to keep the arm 26 in engagement with the inner edge of the strip 27 under pressure. The inner end of the strip 27, or that end which is nearest the switch, terminates short of the inner end of the guide-bar 25, on which it is mounted, as shown, for the purpose of allowing the contact member 26 to turn through an angle of ninety degrees across the end of the strip 27 to allow the tappet member on the locomotive to pass the same, as indicated in Fig. 1.

Depending from the inner end of the slide 23 is a pin or staple 30. In the case of the track A this pin or staple is connected by a thrustlink 31 with the other end of the lever 15, and in the case of the track B said member is connected by a thrust-link 32 with one end of a lever 3&, that is pivoted at 35 on a fixed base and has its other and shorter arm connected by a link 36 with the lever 15 near the pivot 16 thereof.

Referring now to Fig. 1, 37 designates a tappet in the form of an elbow-lever, herein shown as pivoted at 38 to one side of the cow-catcher 39 of the locomotive. 40 represents another elbow-lever pivoted at 11 to the side of the cow-catcher near its upper end, the lower arm of which lever is connected with the upper arm of the lever 47 by a link 42. From the upper arm of the lever 10 a long link 43 extends to the engineers cab, its inner end being provided with a suitable handle 44. The last-described mechanism may be duplicated on the opposite side of the,

locomotive, and in any case the tappet-lever 37 is so positioned as to lie in the vertical plane of the contact device disposed alongside the track and more particularly in a vertical plane intercepted or crossed by the transverse arm of the L shaped contact member 26, the arrangement being such that when the long link or connecting-rod -13 is pulled by the engineer the lower arm of the tappet 17 is thrown downwardly, so as to strike the contact member 26, and when said link is pushed or thrust the tappet member 37 is rocked in the reverse direction, so as to raise the lower arm of the tappet 37 above the level of the contact member 26.

Assuming that the parts are in the relative positions shown in Figs. 2 and 3, wherein the track Ais continuous with the track C, and it is desired to automatically direct the train onto the track B, the engineer lowers the contact 37, which strikes the transverse arm of the contact-piece 26 alongside the track A, and thus moves the slide 23, thus through thrust-rod 31 and lever 15 moving the slide 12 in the slot 10 until its advancing end strikes the end of said slot, (it being assumed that the manual switch-actuating lever 19 is unlocked,) whereupon the continued movement of the lever 15 moves the switch-plate 8 and, through the angle-lever 6 and connections 7 and 5, shifts the rails of the switch to connect the track B with the track A before the locomotive reaches the switch. Similarly, if a train were approaching the track A on the track B with the parts as shown in Fig. 2 a similar manipulation of the tappet 37 into engagement with the contact mechanism alongside the track B would, through the thrust-rod 32, lever 3%, link 36, and lever 15, similarly actuate the switch to render the track B continuous with the track A.

In view of the well known fact that switches of this character are or should be always looked in either position to avoid tampering therewith on the part of unauthorized persons and to avoid accidental displacement of the switch during the passage 01 a train thereover an automatic switchsetting mechanism, such as has been above described, should in orderto be practical embody also automatic unlocking and locking means, and this my invention provides, the mechanism selected for illustrating this "feature of the invention being as follows: 1n a suitable vertical guide 45, big. 3, on the face 01' the post 21 is slidably mounted a locking bar 16, the lower end of which is adapted to enter and engage either of a pair of apertures 17 and 48, formed in the switch-plate 8, the arrangement being such that the locking-bar engages the aperture 17 at one extreme of: movement of the plate 8 and engages the aperture 43 at the other limit of movement of the plate 8. The locking-bar is normally pressed downwardly into engagement with the plate 8 by means of a spring 19, surrounding the reduced end of the locking-bar and abutting against a stop on the side of the post 21, through an aperture in which the upper reduced end of the locking-bar may proj ect. For actuating the locking-bar 16 ironi the to-and-fro movements of the slide 12 we employ, preferably, a link 51, that is pivoted at its lower end to the outer side of the slide 12, while its upper end has a longitudinal slot 52, engaging a pin 53 on the face of the locking-bar 46. With the locking meclb anisin as above described, when the lever 15 is first rocked sul'liciently to move the slide 12 to the other end of the slot 10, during such movement the link 51 raises the locking-bar 46 sulliciently to clear the lower end thereoi "from the aperture 47 of the switol1-plate 8, so that by the time the slide 12 positively engages the plate 8 in a manner to move the latter said plate is free to be moved and will continue to move until the slide 12 and link 51 are swung to the opposite side of the foot of the locking-bar and the aperture 48 has been brought into registration with the foot of the locking-bar, whereupon the spring 19 acts to throw said locking-bar into said aperture, and thus lock the switch immediately upon the completion of its full throw.

The mechanism described may also be conveniently employed to automatically actuate the switch-signal. A simple means for ei'l'ecting this is shown in Fig. 3, wherein 54 may designate a signal mounted on a vertical post 55, supported in a stand 56, the lower end of said post having a laterally-projecting arm 57, the free end of which lies between a pair of upstanding contact-pins 58 and 59 011 the face of the switch-plate 8. The length of the arm,57 and the extent of movement of the plate 3 is so adjusted that the full movement of the plate turns the switch-post by means of the arm 57 and pins 58 and 59 through ninety degrees, or a quarter-turn, thus actuating the signal to indicate danger first unlock the switch, then throw the same,

and finally relock the switch in its changed position.

It will be evident that minor changes in the details of structure and specific arrangements of parts might be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention or sacrificing any of the" advantages thereof, and hence we do not limit the invention to the particular mechanism shown and described except to the eX- tent indicated in specific claims.

We claim 1. An automatic switch-actuating mechanism, comprising, in combination, a slideway located alongside the track in advance of the switch, a slide mounted in said slideway, actuating connections from said slide to the switch, a contact pivotally mounted on the said slide, a tappet mounted on a locomotive, means controlled by the engineer for moving said tappet into and out of a position in which it is adapted to engage said contact, the latter havin a member disposed transversely of the slide in the path of movement of said tappet, and a guide engaging said contact through a portion of its sliding movement but permitting said contact to turn on its pivot at the end of its movement and permit said tappet to pass, substantially as described.

2. In an automatic switch-actuating mechanism, the combination with a slidable switch-plate, and connections therefrom to the switch, of a pivoted lever one end whereof has a lost-motion connection to said switchplate, a single locking device adapted to lock said switch -plate at both limits of its movement, connections between said locking device and said lever operable when the latter swings in either direction, a contact mechanism located alongside the track in advance of the switch, actuating connections from said contact mechanism to the other end of said lever, a tappet mounted on a locomotive, and means controlled by the engineer for moving said tappet into and out of a position in which it is adapted to engage said contact mechanism, substantially as described.

3. In an automatic switch-actuating mechanism, the combination with a slidable switch-plate having a pair of locking-apertures, and connections from said switch-plate to the switch, of a pivoted lever one end whereof has a lost-motion connection to said switch-plate, a slidable locking-bar, a spring or a clear track, according to the tending to force the latter into lockin engagement with one or the other of said Icck= ing-apertures, connections between said locking-bar and said lever operable when the. latter swings in either direction, a contact mechanism located alongside the track in advance of the switch, actuating connections from said contact mechanism to the other end of said lever, a tappet mounted on a locomotive, and means controlled by the engineer for moving said tappetinto and out of a position in which it is adapted to engage said contact mechanism, substantially as described.

4. In an automatic switch-actuating mechanism, the combination with a switch-plate, of a slide-block having a lost-motion connection therewith and adapted to actuate said plate, connections from said plate to the switch, a pivoted lever one end whereof engages said slide-block, a locking mechanism for said switchplate, and actuating connections therefrom to said slide-block, a contact mechanism located alongside the track in ad vance of the switch, actuating connections from said contact mechanism to the other end of said lever, a tappet mounted on a locomotive, and means controlled by the en.

gineer for moving said tappet into and out of a positon in which it is adapted to engage said contact mechanism, substantially as described.

5. In an automatic switch-actuating mechanism, the combination with a switch-plate having locking-apertures, of a slide-block having a lost-motion connection therewith, and adapted to actuate said plate, connections from said plate to the switch, a pivoted lever one end whereof engages said slideblock, a spring-pressed reciprocable lockingbar adapted to engage the apertures of said plate, an actuating-link for unlocking said locking-bar between the latter and said slideblock, a contact mechanism located alongside the track in advance of the switch, actuating connections from said contact mechanism to the other end of said lever, a tappet mounted on a locomotive, and means controlled by the engineer for moving said tappet into and out of a position in which it is adapted to engage said contact mechanism, substantially as described.

6. In a switch-actuating mechanism, the combination with a contact mechanism located alongside the track in advance of the switch, of actuating connections from said contact mechanism to the switch, a tappet mounted on the locomotive, means controlled by the engineer for moving said tappet into and out of a position in which it is adapted to engage said contact mechanism, automatic means for locking said switch-actuating connections against movement in both positions of the switch, and an inclosed manually-operable lever operatively connected to both said switch-actuating connections and said locking means, said manually-operable lever being free to yield under the movement of the automatic switch-actuating connections, substantially as described.

7. In a switch-actuating mechanism, the combination with an apertured slidable switch-plate, and connections therefrom to the switch, of a contact mechanism located alongside the track in advance of the switch, actuating connections from said contact mechanism to said slidable switch-plate, a tappet mounted on the locomotive, means controlled by the engineer for moving said tappet into and out of a position in which it is adapted to engage said contact mechanism, a spring-actuated locking-bar adapted to engage the apertures of said switch-plate to lock the latter against movement in either position of the switch, and an inolosed manually-operable lever operatively connected to both said switch-plate and said locking-bar, said manually-operable lever being free to yield under the sliding movement of said switch-plate, substantially as described.

8. In a switch-actuating mechanism, the combination with a slidable switch-plate having a pair of locking-apertures, and connections from said switch-plate to the switch,

of a pivoted lever one end whereof has a lost- Inotion connection to said switch-plate, a slidable locking-bar, a spring tending to force the latter into locking engagement with one or the other of said locking-apertures, connections between saidlocking-bar and said lever operable when the latter swings in either direction, a contact mechanism located alongside the track in advance of the switch, actuating connections from said contact mechanism to the other end of said lever, a tappet mounted on the locomotive, means controlled by the engineer for moving said tappet into and out of a position in which it is adapted to engage said contact mechanism, and a manually-operable lever connected to and adapted to operate said locking-bar and said pivoted lever, substantially as described.

In testimony that we claim the foregoin as our invention We have hereunto subscribed our names in the presence of two witnesses.

ALBERT O. DOHRMANN. CLARENCE WAITE. Witnesses:

SAMUEL N. POND, FREDERICK O. GooDwIN. 

